Acapulco: Something's Happening Here

Thursday, November 1, 1990

SCENE: ROGER'S hotel room in Acapulco. A bed, a dresser with a mirror ... a table set for dinner-for-two. ROGER, in a white suit and black tie, talks to a waiter:

ROGER: You have done well, extremely well. Thank you very much.

WAITER (receiving a tip): Thank you, Sir. You ring when you want the dessert.

ROGER: Of course.

ROGER watches the WAITER leave. He turns and looks at the table, taking a deep breath. His eyes wander across the room. He fidgets. In short, ROGER, for once, looks nervous.

ROGER: This is crazy. What am I doin'?

A knock at the door brings ROGER to attention. He looks in the dresser mirror, straightens his already-straight bow tie, and opens the door to HOLLY.

HOLLY: I'm ready.

ROGER: So am I.

They smile at each other as she sees the table.

HOLLY: Ah, it's perfect.

ROGER: Well, I uh . . . figured the view was better here from the patio, you know?

HOLLY: Umm . . . It is. So, how do you like my surprise?

At this, HOLLY shows off her eveningwear, a spaghetti-strap deep gold top with a coordinating pair of pants. A multi-colored scarf wrapped around her arms draws attention to her shoulders. ROGER smiles.

ROGER: You look very nice.

HOLLY: Good. I was concerned about the fit. [She picks up a flower.] Would you mind . . . do you remember?

ROGER [smiling]: We'll soon see.

At this, ROGER very delicately takes the flower, and, helped by HOLLY, places it over her right ear. She walks over to the mirror and looks, as ROGER'S eyes follow her . . .

HOLLY: Yes, you do.

ROGER stares at HOLLY. When she looks quizzically at him, he asks:

ROGER [quietly]: Holly, what is going on?

Later, as ROGER and HOLLY finish dinner, and music plays in the background:

ROGER: Is the food okay?

HOLLY: Of course. It's all my favorites. But then, you know that.

ROGER (a bit shyly): Well, we felt like celebrating . . . and so I figured you deserved . . . you know . . .

HOLLY: You don't have to explain. It was nice.

ROGER: Oh, well, if you like this, wait 'til you see the dessert.

HOLLY: I really couldn't eat another thing. . . Why don't you get some brandy and come over to my place? [She has gotten up and turns to the door.]

ROGER: Holly? [She looks back at him.] Something's happening here, and I don't have a clue as to what it is.

HOLLY: Neither do I. I just know you can hear the music better from my room.

ROGER, puzzled and vulnerable, watches as HOLLY leaves.

Back in her hotel room, Holly talks on the telephone to Alexandra.

HOLLY: It's happening.

ALEXANDRA: What?

HOLLY: You heard me, Alex. It's happening. He's taking the bait. [She hears a knock at the door.]

ALEXANDRA: Are you sure?

HOLLY: Yes, and he's here now.

At the other end of the line, FLETCHER comes up behind ALEXANDRA.

FLETCHER: Are you okay?

HOLLY: Who is that?

ALEXANDRA: Fletcher's here.

FLETCHER: What is it?

ALEXANDRA: It's business. [Into the telephone] How can you be sure?

HOLLY: Alex! Is Fletcher there with you?

ALEXANDRA: Yes.

HOLLY: Well, maybe you should patch things up with him, because if it's proof of infidelity you're after, it's over with Roger. He's here, and he's here for one reason.

An uncertain ROGER stands outside HOLLY's hotel room door.

Friday, November 2, 1990

HOLLY opens the hotel room door to ROGER, who carries two glasses of brandy. . .

ROGER: Thought you might have changed your mind.

HOLLY: Just my lipstick. Come on in. Lights a little harsh in here. [As she puts them in semi-darkness] There, that's better . . . do you think?

ROGER: I can't think.

ROGER, not understanding the situation, and knowing that he doesn't, stares at HOLLY as though she has the answer, but in an undecipherable code . . .

HOLLY [looking him in the eyes]: What?

ROGER: You tell me. You never answered me before. What is going on, Holly?

Throughout the following scene, HOLLY turns away from ROGER as she speaks to him. She walks in different parts of the room, and has her back towards him at key moments. However, ROGER, hungering to hear her words, shows no sign of not thinking her completely sincere. His eyes follow her as she walks about the room, and he is incredibly still, focused only on her.

HOLLY [Her eyes dart from ROGER'S as she turns away.]: I'm not sure what's happening.

ROGER: Listen, I am many things, but I am not a fool. I know you hate me.

HOLLY: Roger, that's . . .

ROGER: No, no. . . please, let me finish. All these years you've hated me, and not without provocation. Suddenly, here, in this place of all places, it's as if the past never happened.

HOLLY: Oh, yes. It happened. It's just that we have two pasts, you and I. The one before ...

ROGER: ... and the one after.

HOLLY: Yes, and for so long, all I could remember was the one after.

ROGER: Me too.

HOLLY: And then, I don't know where it changed, but suddenly, I started remembering the man I used to know--the man I married.

ROGER [with a sad laugh, which HOLLY echoes]: Who was that man?

HOLLY: Yeah . . . I think it started in Costa Verde, when you saved the day and rescued Alan-Michael for Blake, for our daughter, and I saw the real love shining in your eyes.

ROGER: Of course I love my daughter.

HOLLY: I know, but I didn't know before that night when you talked about all the time lost between the two of you. And I saw how it, how it . . . hurt you.

ROGER [Irresistibly drawn to her eyes]: To have lost my daughter? To have lost you?

HOLLY looks at him with some surprise, but also appraisingly . . .

HOLLY: And . . and it shocked me, you know, to see the pain, to believe it. [She walks away from him as she says this.] I mean, it was so surprising because I thought that . . . that something had been destroyed a long time ago.

ROGER: What?

HOLLY: The idea of you and me.

ROGER: It was love once.

HOLLY: I don't know. We thought it was love. Anyway, one morning I woke up and all this weight that had been on my heart just suddenly disappeared. I realized . . . I couldn't hate you anymore.

ROGER: Is this true? If you knew how many years I've despaired of ever hearing this.

HOLLY [taking a drink]: I know despair.

ROGER: How many days and nights I have prayed for you to stop hating me, prayed for you to somehow forgive me. But I knew that your hate was so deep and so pure that nothing could change it. And why should it? I didn't deserve that. So finally I just gave up hoping. I mean, I gave up . . .wanting you to change.

HOLLY [looking at him]: That hate was all I had. It kept me going. If I could hate you I didn't have to feel the pain. You said you stopped wanting me to change. . . Did you ever stop wanting me?

ROGER: You? No. Never.

ROGER leans toward HOLLY, as if to kiss her, but she walks away.

HOLLY: I don't know what's happening. I only know that I can't get rid of the past unless there's a resolution.

ROGER: A resolution?

HOLLY: An end. A healing. Once and for all . . .

ROGER [almost whispering]: Holly

HOLLY: You understand?

ROGER: I think so. Yeah . . yeah, I think I understand. [He again leans towards HOLLY, and she backs away.]

HOLLY: No.

ROGER: You're still afraid of me.

HOLLY: I don't want to be. I don't want to be. You have to help me.

ROGER: Tell me, tell me what to do.

HOLLY: Not here. It's too close, too many people, phone calls. [As she says this, her scarf falls and reveals a bare shoulder.] We have to go somewhere where we can be alone.

ROGER: Where?

HOLLY: I heard about this place from one of the syndicators. It's very remote, very private. I think I could find the place; I know you could. Will you come with me?

ROGER: Now?

HOLLY: Now.

ROGER: I never, never imagined anything like this.

HOLLY [smiling]: I know. Neither did I. What's your answer, Roger? Will you come with me?

ROGER: Is this really happening?

HOLLY: You tell me.

ROGER [astonished]: This is really happening.

HOLLY: Yes.

ROGER: Forgive me. I'm being dense, I know, but I just ...I don't want to presume anything. I mean, you really want to --?

HOLLY: Yes.

ROGER: With me?

HOLLY: You're the one.

ROGER: Are you sure?

HOLLY (a dulcet laugh): I don't know. Roger, let's just see what the night brings.

ROGER: No, no. Think about this, Holly. Have you thought about this?

HOLLY: If I think about it too much I'll lose my nerve.

ROGER: You are about to marry a good man.

HOLLY: Yes.

ROGER: This could jeopardize your marriage.

HOLLY: No one has to know about this.

ROGER: You'll know.

HOLLY: I am doing this for Ross. Don't you see? He deserves all of me, without all this stuff I've been carrying around for all these years. I want to be free of you, Roger. I want you out from under my skin. Now, don't you turn me down. You owe me this one.

If ROGER is mystified presently, what happens next will leave him completely dumbfounded. As he leans towards HOLLY to kiss her, the telephone rings. HOLLY slowly backs away from ROGER (leaving him totally but quietly frustrated) and moves towards the telephone, saying . . .

HOLLY: Now, you see what I mean--that's why we have to get out of here. [Into the telephone] Hello.

THE DESK CLERK: Excuse me. This is the desk. We're looking for Mr. Thorpe.

HOLLY: Mr. Thorpe is here.

THE DESK CLERK: He has a phone call from Mrs. Thorpe.

HOLLY [a little surprised, handing the phone to him with a significant look]: Oh. It's Alexandra.

ROGER: Alex?

ALEXANDRA: Roger . . . I want you to come home.

As the scene fades, ROGER looks shocked. Suddenly, it seems that everybody wants him--and, for him, that's incredibly outlandish.

HOLLY watches ROGER'S reactions during the telephone conversation.

ROGER [into the telephone]: Alex?

ALEXANDRA: I've--I've been too harsh with you. I've locked you out of my life. It's time--it's way past time--for me to forgive you.

ROGER [not knowing what to say]: Well, that's good news.

ALEXANDRA: Don't say anything. Just come home. I want my husband back.

ROGER: Soon. Very soon.

ALEXANDRA: Now--tonight!

ROGER: Alex, I can't. We're very close wrapping up this major syndication deal. . .

ALEXANDRA: To hell with the deal! I want my husband back!

HOLLY whispers to ROGER, "Can't this wait?"

ROGER [Clutching at the idea, not because he is in a scheming frame of mind at the moment, but because it is an idea. Any idea will do at this point. His own brain has ceased to function.]: Uh, Alex--It's just gonna have to wait. But, umm, I--I want to continue this conversation. I'll call you tomorrow morning. [HOLLY shakes her head at him.] I'll call you at noon.

ALEXANDRA: Roger, don't hang up!

ROGER: Uh . . . Sweet dreams, honey. [He hangs up the phone very quickly as he says this. Poor ROGER. At this moment, he is truly a desperate man.]

HOLLY: What was that all about?

ROGER: I don't know.

HOLLY [stepping closer to him]: Well, what do you say?

ROGER: Look, it's not that I don't want to . . .

HOLLY: But. . .

ROGER: But, I feel very strange.

HOLLY: That makes two of us. [He looks as if he wants to kiss her.] Go pack. [She steps away.] Meet you down in the lobby--fifteen minutes?

ROGER [He shrugs, as if to say, "What can I say to this?"]: Ten.

HOLLY: Good.

ROGER shakes his head slowly as he leaves this room. As soon as he is gone, HOLLY lets out a deep breath and rushes for the dresser, packing a negligee in her suitcase. Her whole demeanor has changed. She picks up the telephone and calls PERKINS.

HOLLY: Perkins, hello. We're right on schedule. We'll be leaving, checking out of the hotel, in ten minutes. You'll be following behind us--right behind us? Good. Remember, ten o'clock. You be ready at ten o'clock. Okay.

HOLLY hangs up the telephone and looks about the room, finally reaching under the mattress and pulling out a small pistol. She holds it up and looks none too sane as she says, "It's okay, Ross. I'm gonna be all right. And after tonight, he'll be out of our lives for good."

Next Scene:
The Fateful Move